If you now browse with nautilus or nemo to the /run/media/myuserID/KOBOeReader folder it appears empty but it really contains 2 hidden folders

.adobe-digital-editions
.kobo

open a terminal and verify the 2 hidden folders with
> ls -la

and now go into .kobo/ folder

> cd /run/media/myuserID/KOBOeReader/.kobo/
> ls

you will see a KoboReader.sqlite file that we need to edit

but we like to have a backup copy of the KoboReader.sqlite as it came with the device,
just in case we make an error

> cp KoboReader.sqlite BackupKoboReader.sqlite

We will be using the sqlite tool, so make sure sqlite isinstalled on your system.
Use your package manager to install sqlite first or use something like

yum install sqlite
(on a Fedora/RHEL/CentOS machine as root user)

Now we are going to edit the KoboReader.sqlite,
put in some fake information so that the device works under Linux,
and we will never buy a Kobo book from their store until they have a Kobo Linux Client

I would suggest not 'demanding' anything. Linux users are, unfortunately, a very small percentage of users. I'm one of them, but if Kobo supports Windows and Mac they probably have support for at least 98% of their users in general and 99.5% or more of their users who would need the Kobo desktop client anyway. I'd argue that the desktop client is superfluous anyway; my wife, who will probably never even consider "not Windows", has had no need of it for her Glo; everything she needed for setup (whether she wanted to fake registration or not, which she didn't) she could do without it. Sync books? Wireless. Firmware upgrade? Wireless. Recommendations? Pulled down over wireless with every sync. Books from non-Kobo sources? Calibre, and the Kobo desktop client doesn't allow it anyway. Reading books? Kinda the point if the device

If you really want a Linux client, then you'd be much better to ask people to write to Kobo (snail mail, with real paper and ink and envelopes and everything) politely requesting Linux support. Maybe explain the benefits to all users (never just for your benefit) that would make it worth their time to spend developing a Linux client, and possibly also spending money on hiring a couple Linux developers.

And maybe you could explain to me why a Linux desktop client would be helpful, because I honestly don't see any reason to have the desktop client at all unless you don't have a wireless network. But if that is the only reason, why not spend the time to improve the device user interface and improve the experience for all users instead?

It never worked for me with WINE. I could install it and set my account but from there it was trying to sync endlessly (several hours). In the end, I removed it and I'm dealing wirelessly with everything.

just use WINE you whiner.
(I had to say it..lol..not sure if it actually works)
besides the kobo desktop software is useless...unless you actually buy books

If nobody demands, asks, asks polity, begs or whines for a Kobo Linux Client the Kobo folks will continue to say that there is no demand for a Linux.

The day a new firmware update or a new device breaks the bypass what will you do ?
(it's also not really easy for a non-technical user btw)

Don't forget Kobo is using a lot of Linux and busybox infrastructure in both the device and their server infrastructure. The decent thing would be some acknowledge of this and a least a how-to on the activation/registration on their website ?

As a new Kobo linux customer, you are stuck in the initial registration process unless you find this website and actually want to risk damaging a brand new 200 dollar device.

If you installed Linux on your parents computer because you don't want every holiday to be a windows fixing / reinstalling holiday, your partners will get stuck with a non-working paperweight after buying a Kobo device.

Until Kobo has some Linux support I will buy my 5 books a month elsewhere.

I'm mobile on a small-screen phone with a sleeping baby on one arm so please forgive the lack of quoting. Very difficult right now

I believe that demanding anything is only counterproductive. Send in support requests or feature requests, send letters, but do it politely and make it clear that documentation, information, and the ability to do it ourselves is equally as good; if it's truly that important to you and you want to make a statement to Kobo, vote with your wallets and mail them your reader with a polite letter explaining why you won't be buying their hardware. The OpenBSD folks are, IMO, a shining example of how well this works. Linux on the other hand, again in my opinion, tends to have mostly people who not only expect not that they should get what they need to have someone make it work, but rather that companies should do it for them and why isn't it already done!

I'm still not convinced of the utility of having a desktop client, but with sufficient information to do it ourselves I'd be happy to contribute patches to calibre to make it happen. Unless davidfor got to it before I did Regardless, I think the best first step would be for Kobo to allow setting an account without a network at all, including saying "no thanks, no account for me".

As for this being difficult for non-technical people, how hard would it really be for a developer to write a quick Python script to do it for you? All behind the scene, all the end user does is run the script and say "this drive right over here is my Kobo". If an end user can get online to purchase ebooks, I think it's completely reasonable to expect them to be able to download and run an installer package.

As a technical Linux user, I understand the difficulty in supporting different Linux distros. Debian and Fedora and Ubuntu and Mint and Arch, all different (and yes, Mint is based on Ubuntu or Debian and Ubuntu is based on Debian, but it's not all the same, especially not with Ubuntu's "we have to do it ourselves" mentality) and all requiring ever so slightly (or quite different) instructions. I completely understand their decision to not support Linux. What I didn't mention above, not only do they need to hire Linux developers, they also need to train all their support techs on Linux. Expensive, for dubious business benefit. As much as I (and probably no other Linux user) enjoy, it's the business benefit that will rule. Hence the need for polite information.